Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

To: r9etb
What happens when Sharia law conflicts with the "equal protection" clause? And of course, none of the folks screaming about this injunction, ever seem to see the larger implications of such a stupid, stupid law. If a law could be passed regarding one religion, it's only a matter of time before it got applied to other religions.

If the court can make decisions based on Sharia law, couldn't they decide to base their decisions on Mosaic law just as well, and simply disregard civil law whenever it might suit them?

34 posted on 11/30/2010 7:53:07 AM PST by tacticalogic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies ]


To: tacticalogic
If the court can make decisions based on Sharia law, couldn't they decide to base their decisions on Mosaic law just as well, and simply disregard civil law whenever it might suit them?

You're blinded by the "Sharia" aspects of the case. It's a more general issue, though. As it happens, judges are often asked to rule on matters involving the internal "laws" of various religions, with regard to matters regarding property and other matters.

Over the course of 150+ years of rulings on such matters, the courts have adopted a "deference" approach, whereby they'll defer to the internal rules of a religious body rather than make rulings that interfere with the First Amendment.

A classic expression of this principle is given in Watson vs. Jones (1871):

In such cases where the right of property in the civil court is dependent on the question of doctrine, discipline, ecclesiastical law, rule, or custom, or church government, and that has been decided by the highest tribunal within the organization to which it has been carried, the civil court will accept that decision as conclusive, and be governed by it in its application to the case before it.

It's clear that the Oklahoma law would violate that principle.

43 posted on 11/30/2010 8:24:08 AM PST by r9etb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson